Blossoms
by HerEyesWereLikeJade
Summary: Did you really think that Edward and Bella were the only vamp/human couple?
1. Preparations

**Chapter One – Preparations **

_Jenna Tomas_

_I woke up this morning with a strange feeling. Not like something was wrong, but just... strange. Like someone was watching me while I looked around my untidy room, still not completely back-to-earth._

I angrily shove the book under my pillow and sighed. Reading didn't really help me getting asleep, as well as the warmth. I could hardly stand it. How could someone ever sleep like this? Maybe I should ask my aunt if I could sleep on the roof.

That reminded me of the fact that I had not opened my window. Which explained why I was sweating like hell.

So I got up and opened my window while I prayed for a single non-existent breeze.

I got back to my bed and paid no attention to the mess on the floor, which contained a pair of sneakers, scraps of paper and jogging pants. I put my awful, brown locks in a knot on the top of my head (as far as I was able to put it on the top of my head; I really sucked at controlling my hair) and laid down. Oh, if I could only be sure of a peaceful night! I would sail the seven seas for a dreamless night. They got even fuller of stupidity the last time. It wasn't unusual if I dreamt of walking with massive lynxes, being chased by a gold-haired, red-eyed angel or pre-historical scissors. I looked to my left and, in the light coming from the lantern in front of my window, I could see my old stuffed lynx. The last time I'd touched it was a week ago, when I had accidentally dropped it on the floor while I stumbled awkwardly around with my crutches.

My crutches. Ouch.

Mental punishment! Nothing better to punish someone. In my case, it was a punishment for my own stupidity. I had a job at the riding school (I guessed I'd been fired since I proved myself very incapable of riding), but I didn't really ride horses, although I knew the basic things from my boyfriend and fellow worker Nicola. So when we had to escort a tilt car full of old ladies on a small tour through the park, we'd thought that I could ride a small pony to escort it.

Stupid decision.

Really, it was just a awfully small pony, no higher than my shoulder (head included, that's even worse). But apparently, I wasn't able to keep my grip on the pony and my own consciousness. As the doctors told me when I woke up in the ambulance, I'd fallen from my pony. The pony did not wish to agree with my lack of control and went out of control itself. It added a broken rib to the list of what I'd already caused to myself: bruised ankle, a killing headache and strained muscles everywhere. I do not blame the pony in any way, I just want to head-wall myself. C'mon, I worked with horses so high that you'd almost went hiding in some lonely corner, and I fell of a pony that wouldn't hurt a fly.

So I spent some time in the hospital. I really enjoyed my stay with daily visits of doctor Jackass - er, , he had such an ego. He was narcissistic or he was a great fan of Gilderoy Lockhart. I was quite sure they'd be friends for life.

I was finally released a week ago. My aunt Rosie was very relieved to have me back home - not only because she had died of loneliness and lack of some good coffee, but she liked to keep an eye on my breakable head.

But there were some bad parts, too.

I had to go to school again tomorrow and face all my classmates, who would surely want to know every single detail of what happened to me when they weren't able to see for themselves. Of course, they could have visited me, but who ever cared? Even Nicola didn't show up. Sigh. I wondered if one and a half month had changed our relationship - or the fact that I was more stupid than he'd thought. Maybe his friends finally convinced him. Luke and Zeke were always picking on me, so it was quite hard for Nicola to stand between me and his friends. That was why we didn't do sticky lovers-things at school, but kept that part for the ride home when we were finished at the riding school.

I'd better keep those kinds of thoughts out of my head if I didn't want to start hyperventilating.

And so, I slowly moved away into warm darkness.

I did not try to protest.

I woke up too early that morning, probably because of the warmth. Bah bah. I just couldn't get used to it.

I stood up and started my morning ritual. Rosie joined me a little later, so I made us a cup of coffee. It didn't really help me calm down since my heart started to flutter in my chest, but I was at least clear. _Jenna_, I spoke severely to myself, _you are not going to die. Don't act like a baby. Take a deep breath and let's go._

"Bye, Rosie," I said as cheerful as I could and grabbed my bag.

"Bye Jennie-penny," she said and then grinned. I pulled up an eyebrow.

"What's the matter, Rosie-cosy?" I asked. Had I forgotten some important things - shoes, for example? Nope. I was completely dressed. My hair, then?

Rosie rolled her eyes at my nickname for her. Right. Then she shouldn't have called me Jennie-penny.

"You seem quite merry for a girl who's going back to school."

"Who wouldn't? School is fun! Nerds united!" I added and we both laughed.

"Well, go then," she said.

"Sure. See you tonight." Dang. Rosie had warned me that she would be later today, so I had to find something else to entertain myself. Maybe there was some movie on...

I continued thinking about this -hum hum- interesting subject while I drove to school. I was so glad Rosie and I had found some cheap car for me - an old Volkswagen Beetle, but it was still good and not expensive. Ah, I loved old stuff. Good ol' quality standard and since no one else wanted the "crap", we could get it for nothing.

I probably was the only one sharing this opinion with Rosie, since I was the only one with a Volkswagen Beetle on the whole parking lot.

I checked my cell phone and surprised myself. Wow, that was early. I should really get a prize - an annotation in the Guinness World Records, maybe.

I took a deep breath, repeated my motto -No one would bite me- and stepped out of the car.

It felt like coming home - everything had remained the same in the time I'd been gone. I didn't really have to think about the route I was taking while I walked to the secretariat.

"Hello," I said to Mrs. Hale and I quickly looked down to take my note of absence out of my bag that Rosie had written yesterday, so the school wouldn't think I'd been truanting.

"Hello," Mrs. Hale said in a friendly, but detached voice. "Where have you been, my dear?"

"Ill," I answered shortly and handed her the note. "Is that okay?"

"Sure, that's fine," Mrs. Hale answered, but I could see the curiosity dripping off her face.

"Okay, thanks," I smiled and turned around to walk away to meet my dusty friends in the school library.

I was already at my post when the buzzer rang.

My classmates were as curious as I'd expected, but I told them patiently to explain when we were in the classroom, just so I wouldn't have to tell the same story over and over again.

Luckily, Mrs Chauvel joined us pretty fast; she seemed to be surprised to see me back that soon.

"Hello, Jenna!" she said in a honestly surprised voice. Oh, I loved Mrs. Chauvel. She was the most friendly old lady I'd ever met. Apart from my grandmother, of course.

Ouch. A stab of old grieve in the hearth.

"Where have you been so long?" she asked as the whole crowd followed after her into the classroom. "I heard you were at the hospital?" A small frown of concern appeared on her front head.

"Er, that's right," I said and tried to ignore all the stares around me. How should I explain this.

"What happened then?" The frown did not disappear. Guilt for her concern forced the words to come out of my mouth.

"Well, er, I had an accident with a pony - really, it wasn't that bad," I added quickly when she gasped. "But the doctors wanted me to stay in the hospital, you know, just to be sure." Not. Mutually.

The frown of concern made place for pity.

"Well, go all to your seats, please," Mrs. Chauvel said when she noticed my classmates standing around me and talking to each other to discuss their probably really interesting weekend events. I turned away from her to go to my seat.

The only thing was that there already was someone on my seat.

The boy, or young man, as he looked so much older than sixteen or seventeen, seemed so unreal to me that I feared I had fainted or I was still dreaming my strange dreams. The difference was that this golden haired angel did not chase me, but stared at me with shock and fascination in his yellow-brownish eyes. Eyes placed in a face with such a stunning, impossible, inhuman beauty that my heart fluttered in my chest, my stomach turned around and my head was for one moment filled with the image of his face, surrounded by golden locks.

And then I stumbled forwards so I wouldn't keep staring at him like a total idiot.

I encouraged myself to go sit next to him by repeating my motto over and over again, trying to concentrate on anything but him. I put my books on the table for my French class and kept staring at them. I didn't have to look at him to know that he was staring at me; I felt my skin tingle under his eyes. Shoot, why did I blush? I felt like a complete idiot.

'Hello.' He sounded friendly and normal, as if I wasn't a flushing dork. His voice was like chocolate to my ears; soft and deep, with a special timbre that would break a girl's heart, including mine. I looked up – I had been scribbling some notes on my book to avoid looking at him – and smiled carefully at my neighbor to show I'd heard him. A smile I felt melting from my face like wax when he smiled a little smile, too. His face lit up while smiling; it almost sparkled. He didn't look so stunned anymore. I could have known it. I had never stunned anyone before; even Nicola didn't look at me that way. Some people would look "stunned" after one of my better actions during gym. I wasn't that bad at softball.

He offered me his hand and I kept staring at it for a moment until I realized he wanted to shake hands. It was a polite gesture, but quite strange for a high school student. I hesitated and then put my hand in his. I was surprised by the coolness and strange feeling of his skin. His skin was soft, perfect, but I felt like getting an electric shock when I touched him. It didn't feel unpleasant.

"Julien Valet, nice to meet you," he said, perfectly separating his French name from the English sentence that followed. _Julien Valet_. His name suited him. Apparently, he was French. If all French boys were as handsome – beautiful – as him, it wouldn't be hard to figure out why there were so many girls in the French classes. "You must be Jennifer."

"Jenna Tomas," I emphasized my name. "I don't like Jennifer." He smirked. I suddenly noticed we were still holding hands; we both let go at the same moment, as if he'd read my mind.

"I have been here for a week, but I haven't seen you till now," he said. "Have you been ill?" I was probably just being paranoid, because he had no reason to frown worriedly. Of course, my eyes met his eyes again and I had to rip them loose. They kept staring at me in my mind with their strange color; gold brown, like autumn leaves in a September forest. I couldn't help but thinking of my home back in Minnesota. Oh, mom and dad...

My voice was a little hoarse when I spoke. "Sort of. I broke some ribs and the doctor wanted me to take it slow for a while." The frown got deeper; I wanted it to disappear. I didn't like people to be worried.

"That must have hurt," he said. Unlike anyone else, he really seemed to care. He understood.

"It wasn't that bad." I expected the frown to disappear now, but it stayed. I looked at Mrs Chauvel; she was talking to some pupils. That meant I would be bored for a while... and there was more time to talk to _him_.

Unfortunately, someone else had another idea.

Someone kicked my chair.

I reluctantly turned my head to see Joanne smirking at me.

"What's up?" I asked. She made me bow closely towards her; Daisy giggled next to her.

"He's hot," Joanne whispered, completely superfluous.

"Well, yes," I said, irritated.

"Why don't you give it a try?" Daisy giggled louder.

"I have a boyfriend!" I hardly kept whispering.

"Oh, I forgot." She didn't sound like she had. "But choosing Nicola over him?"

"You can have him." I was done with the discussion. I turned around and suddenly wanted to cry. I had no idea what was wrong with Julien, but I wanted it to stop now – immediately. He looked like he was in pain or something. Like he had seen all terrible things ever happened together in one moment. In less than a second, I saw his face suddenly change; his pain turn into polite happiness. Probably, his pain wasn't something that had to be seen.

"So, you're an exchange student?" I concentrated on the way the sun shone on his light blond hair. It was easier talking that way.

"No, I have recently moved here with my uncle." I heard him hesitate when saying 'uncle', but I didn't ask like Joanne would have. I knew everything about painful family situations. Just his eyes had made me think of my parents again. I hardly resisted looking at them again. "We are living here just for a few months, but I think I'll stay." He looked surprised when I suddenly looked up, straighth into his eyes. Some part of the 'stunned' expression had returned.

"Why not?" My sudden confidence made my voice clear and steady. He looked as if he didn't understand me and bye bye, confidence. I blushed. "I mean, what's the special thing of Phoenix?" I had a hard time trying to make sense today. He was silent for a while.

"It's... different from where I have been before," he then said slowly. "I love the sun and the mountains, the colors." He stopped.

"You'll think differently about that after a while," I said. He grinned and my heart almost jumped from my chest.

"You're not from Phoenix, are you?" he said. I frowned; he was more observant that I'd thought.

"Nope, I'm from Minnesota."

"You sure miss it, don't you?" I sighed and looked up. I somehow needed the comfort he offered in his voice.

"I was six when I moved to Phoenix." I could still remember that horrible time with every detail. "I miss them every day." Shoot, had I said 'them'? I knew he'd heard that, but he didn't ask. We understood each other.

French went by in a rush, way to fast for me. I didn't want the class to end. Everyone looked relieved at the end of class. I surely was the only one who didn't.

"What's your next class?" I was mistaken; Julien looked reluctant to leave, too.

"Maths." I hadn't kept up, so I hoped Mr Rowland wouldn't ask me anything.

"Oh," he just said. "Well, I'll, er, see you later." He smiled a little smile at me and left me dazzled with my books.

"Bye," I said softly, too late for him to hear.

Life goes on, they say, and it did, but not fast enough for me. Most kids had heard of my 'illness' from Joanne, the gossip girl in school, but there were still enough to stalk me during lunch. I was actually relieved when I walked to my seventh and last class.

That happiness disappeared when I saw who was sitting next to my place – even earlier in the classroom than me.

Julien must have heard me, because he look around and smiled.

"Hello," I said to everybody in general – meaning, Julien and my teacher for history, who was writing something on the blackboard. Mrs Evans seemed happy to have me back.

"Hello! Nice to have you back in class again," she said. I smiled, though I was sure it looked like a grimace, and sat down next to Julien. The bell rang. Time to face hell.

"Hi," I said to him. We sat on the front row of class, directly facing the teacher's desk. Some people where early and tried to go sit on the last rows without getting an angry look of Mrs Evans. She would make sure everyone payed attention to what she was saying, but that wouldn't help if people slept on the last row. Which usually happened, by the way.

"Didn't expect to see you here," he said, grinning. It dropped my books on the table a little bit harder than I meant to.

"Why is that?"

"I don't know. I didn't expect you to be a history-person." I pursed my lips together and he just grinned more. He seemed to really enjoy all of this.

"Sorry if I angered you."

"You did. And you don't really sound like you're sorry," I replied accusing.

"I really am." I looked up. Something in his voice had alarmed me. It sounded like a promise. Promises weren't alarming, but the contains were. He sounded like he promised he'd protect forever with his own life or something sentimental like that. I shivered.

Mrs Evans quickly started our class. I tried to concentrate and made myself look like I was making notes, but I secretly thought of his eyes when he'd said he was sorry. So big and bright, with thick, black lashes that contrasted beautifully with the liquid gold of his eyes... I almost jumped off my chair when the bell rang because I had been so deep in my mind.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Mrs Evans called. I hastily wrote down the homework she'd given us and packed my books.

"Well, see you tomorrow," Julien said. I suddenly was obsessed with the way his lips moved while talking. They looked so soft and full and perfect. I felt the sudden urge to be with him and talk for ages. I ignored it and wished him a good day, then walked out of the classroom. I need all my self-control to drive back home in my old Contour and not to hit some old woman. I was happy to be in my choking hot car, where I could be alone, far away from any bad temptations.

When I came home, I found a note from Rose, telling me she would be late from work and were I could find something for dinner. She also asked me to record _Bones_ for her, so I put on the recorder and made some soup. I did my homework, cleaned up the kitchen, sent Nicola a message with 'I love u', even though it seemed fake some way, took a shower and even dried my hair until it was perfectly straight. It didn't help, because by the time I was done, there was still no Rose. And all I need was Rose, Rose and my home back in Minnesota. I missed the trees in the garden – the birches and pines, I missed the smell of pine wood, cinnamon and my mom's hair. I missed everything I'd lost ten years ago.

I went to bed early after turning off all the lights, except for the one in the hallway, just in case Rose would return. Maybe she'd found a nice guy. Finally. All her other relations had only lasted for a few months, two years was the maximum.

I waited in bed for tears to come. I suddenly wanted to cry. I wanted to cry about today, about my disastrous return to school, about the way I felt about Julien that was terribly wrong, about anything, just to cry. Maybe I'd spent all my tears ten years ago, after I heard about the car crash.

Something inside of me broke.

Tears came streaming out, finally free to flow, and I let it happen. I cried alone in my bed, loud, with no one to hear.

I thought I'd been ready to go back to school, to face all of this stuff. But something had changed, and now I wasn't sure what would happen. My daily routine had been disturbed.

It now seemed that the word _preparation_ was something different than just packing your school bag.


	2. A change of mind

**Chapter Two - A change of mind**

_Jenna Tomas_

Rose was the best person I'd ever known. She didn't ask about my red eyes when I came downstairs to eat my breakfast and let me eat in peace. I was quite late for school because of my lazy behavior and so I didn't notice Julien until I almost bumped into him.

'Woah!' I exclaimed. 'Oh, I'm sorry!' My books were all across the ground, but Julien had picked them up before I could.

'Here you go,' he said. I almost forgot to take the books as he sent me one of those mesmerizing, mind-clouding smiles of his. Being Nicola's girlfriend, I should be deeply ashamed of the effect he had on me, but I really couldn't help it.

'Er, thanks,' I said softly, trying not to stare at his face. I noticed he wore a ring on his left hand. It was quite big and it look antique. The massive blue stone in the silver setting sparkled in the sun.

He suddenly moved his hand away so that I couldn't see it any more. I looked up, which was the most stupid thing I could have done.

'Shouldn't you go to class?' he asked. I blushed. 'You'll be late.' He was right; the parking lot was almost empty by now. Strangely, our conversation hadn't last more than a few seconds.

'Er, sure.' I stopped in the middle of a step. 'Hey, don't you have French together with me?'

'I do,' he answered simply. I tried to keep up with him as he walked to school. I frowned.

'Why did you choose French?" I asked curiously.

'Well, I'm not from France,' he explained, fixing his eyes at my face as if I were an interesting object of study. 'I was born in the States, but my uncle thinks it's good for me to learn French.' He smiled sadly. I suddenly felt we had something in common; a great loss of which we both suffered each day.

'Why do you live with your uncle?' I'd said it before thinking and immediately regret it. His eyes got a distant look and I felt him shutting me out.

'My parents died,' he answered bluntly. He let me go in the classroom first, but his smile wasn't sincere.

I silently walked to my seat and said nothing while he sat down next to me. Again, his presence made me feel uncomfortable. My skin tingled as if there was going electricity going over it. I heard Joanne giggling, but I was too tensed to look.

Unfortunately, Mrs Chauvel had decided to show us a piece of real French culture. It was a series of a few films about Paris. It seemed interesting.

Not.

The electricity on my skin got heavier as she turned off the lights and I could hear Julien gasp for breath. It took some time before my eyes were used to the dark. In stead of watching the film, I carefully looked at him. He sat on his chair, his arms folded, with a concentrated look on his face. My posture was an exact copy of his, I realized. I desperately tried not to look at him, or at least look away before he'd look at _me_, but it was useless. He suddenly turned his head to look at me with a look in his eyes that made my heart sputter. It was one of an intense desire, one of a deeply hidden instinct that was almost bursting out like a dead volcano. It made me shiver and I was finally able to look away. But my eyes didn't really see the film. They stared hazily in the direction of the screen. All they saw was Julien's face as he had looked at me in the darkened classroom. Something had frightened me because he had looked _dangerous_ in some way. And also because I had reacted the wrong way. I had a boyfriend, damn it! How could my heart react in such way on someone else? How could I be so hopeless against his powers?

I was just packing my books as I heard the noise of running feet behind me. I turned around hastily. I had never been so paranoid before. When he saw me looking, a beautiful smile spread across his face.

'Hey Jenna,' he said brightly. It took me some time to find my voice.

'Er, hey,' I said. Julien stood in the doorway, looking excited. 'What's up?'

'The selections for the boys-and-girls-softball team are this afternoon,' he said. 'They told me you're quite good at softball. So...' I couldn't believe my ears. He was asking me to join the softball team? I wasn't that bad at softball, but I wasn't a star player either.

'I don't know...' I began to say.

'Sarah and Caroline are coming as well,' he said. He didn't even let me finish. 'They all want you in the team. I had to look for you for them.' He looked as if he enjoyed all of this very much. It annoyed me for some reason.

'I don't think I'm good enough to make it to the team,' I said. I tried to get past him, but he hardly left space for me to get outside. The sunlight scorched my eyes after the cool darkness inside the library.

'They'll be disappointed,' he called after me. I stopped. Why did he speak that way? I felt guilty for not coming now. I believed Sarah and Caroline really counted on me; I was one of the best girls in our gym class.

'Okay,' I said. 'I could give it a try.' Julien grinned.

'Excellent! You should hurry, the selections start in a few minutes.' I swore softly and followed him.

'Congratulations!' Sarah exclaimed in the girl's room as I came in to put on my normal clothes. 'Really awesome you're in the team.' I grinned back and thanked her. Strangely, I felt quite happy about my place in the team, though I wasn't really sure if it had to do with Julien or not. He immediately got a place in the team; we had all stared in awe when he'd hit the ball whit such strength that the sound made us all cringe away. After five minutes, Caroline had returned with the ball, completely out of breath. My turn hadn't been so amazing as his, but still it had earned me a place in the team. Sarah was in the team, too, as well was Caroline.

Nicola had showed up to watch the selections, but he didn't join in. I had watched him silently from the other side of the field, hiding behind my fellow softball players.

I had just decided to go look for him, when Caroline and Sarah said goodbye and left. I was the only one in the building right now, except for our trainer. My footsteps sounded cold and lonely in the deserted building. That was why I screamed when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

'Hey, it's me!' a voice called. I put my hand on my chest and leaned against the wall.

'Gee, you scared the hell out of me,' I said accusing. He smiled an apologizing smile that made my heart sputter like an old engine like it did when he suddenly appeared from nothing.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to.' He stepped forwards. 'Are you okay?'

'No,' I said, closing my eyes. 'I just had a heart attack.' He grinned and I opened my eyes immediately. 'You think that's funny?'

'Sure,' he said. 'Come on, let's get out of here.' I took a deep breath and walked out of the door into the sunlight, right next to him. It felt comfortable, having him safely next to me.

I don't know what made him so cold and full of anger; the fact that I was with Julien or the fact that I was with Julien so easily and confident, like two friends.

Or two lovers.

Nicola leaned against the Contour and watched the two of us coming outside. I had no idea if he suspected anything or what, I was just too busy noticing I was blushing.

'I'll see you tomorrow,' Julien said. For some reason, his voice sounded cold and distant. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Nicola.

Nicola did the same.

I shook my head softly. They couldn't be rivals. That was stupid.

Julien's black Audi A5 surely must have cost a lot. My old Contour looked like a toy compared to his car. He dumped his bag in the back and walked around the car.

'Hey Jen,' Nicola said, but his voice was cold and his eyes were fixed on Julien. He leaned towards me and kissed me on my cheek. At the same moment, my eyes met Julien's. He looked down, as if I had personally hurt him.

'How was school?' Nicola was annoyed with my lack of attention to him. Only when Julien's car had disappeared in a cloud of dust, I turned my head towards him. He folded his arms around me. They felt hot – his whole body was hot near mine. I realized that I was used to Julien and his cool skin – so much that I disliked Nicola's heat. He smelled different, too; aftershave, leather and a smell I didn't recognize, even though it seemed familiar. I saw the leather jacket that hung over his arm.

'Fine,' I said. Frowning, I thought of something. 'Where were you during gym?'

'What?' I gave him a sharp look; he knew exactly what I meant. 'I was just... hanging around with some friends.'

What had I missed while I wasn't at school? These "friends" of his surely were new.

'But you can't just skip classes,' I said. 'Why did you do that?' Nicola sighed.

'Jen, things change. _I_ change. These guys I have met... they are pretty cool. They know what _real_ life is, not just the crap they teach you at school during government class, about a job and a family and your duty for the country. What am I supposed to do at school? Just sit down and learn my maths and stupid dead English writers that nobody cares about?' He stopped and realized I had been silent all the time.

'What's wrong? You like English writers?' He tried to make a joke out of it. 'You look like an ice queen, you know.' He seemed worried. He better be.

'My name is _Jenna_, not _Jen_, and I _do_ like English writers,' I said coldly while putting his arms away. 'Listen, I don't care who your friends are, Nicola. I have never cared about any of your friends. I love _you_, and you know that.' I hesitated, not sure if I still did. 'You just have changed so much, and I don't think the person I love is you.' Nicola frowned.

'Jenna, don't be so ridiculous. Of course I'm still the person you love.'

'No, you aren't!' I exclaimed and pushed him away from me when he tried to came closer. 'This whole macho thing, skipping your classes, and then the aftershave and the leather and your behavior... This isn't you, Nicola!' I had to calm down; I was near the edge of crying and I didn't want to with him still around.

'Jenna...' He said softly, but I heard it in his voice. He had nothing to defend himself with, because this was the truth.

'I'll see you tomorrow.' I stepped in my car and put on the air conditioning immediately. 'I guess,' I added bitterly when I thought about his skipping classes.

I drove off the parking lot, leaving Nicola and my anger behind in a cloud of dust.

Only a few tears rolled off my cheeks and dripped on my legs. I pulled my hand through my hair and after some deep breaths, I stepped out of the car and walked up the small stairs to the house.

I guess I should have been happy with the place where I lived. Rose was a successful column writer and had bought herself a nice big house in a nice neighborhood. Actually, she had a boyfriend back then, but their relationship ended a few months later, so she was all alone in the big house.

Until I moved in, of course. I got my own room with a view on the back garden and the mountains – okay, hills, surrounding Phoenix. The room and the view were beautiful, just like the rest of the house, but I never stopped missing my old house in Minnesota.

'Hello?' I heard Rose's voice coming from the kitchen. 'Is that you, Jenna?' Who else, I thought and closed the door.

'Yep, it's me,' I called. 'What are you doing?' I asked when I heard something fall in the kitchen. I hastily came to save whatever was going wrong.

'I was just trying a new recipe for pizza, but I guess I'll have to order a pizza tonight,' she said. Her face was covered in bloom, as was the whole kitchen. The thing I'd heard falling was a tin with tomatoes. I grinned.

'That's just what I thought.'

The pizza took a long time to arrive, and when we could finally eat, it was almost cold. We happily swore at the pizza boy and watched some dramatic girl's series on TV. I was just putting everything in the dish washer when the phone rang.

'Hello, Rose speaking.' Rose was faster than me. 'Hey, Nicola.' My heart stopped for a few seconds before I mimed _NO_ to Rose. She nodded. 'Sorry, no. She's fine. Bye.' She looked strangely at me, but I turned around to close the dish washer and turn it on.

'What wrong with you and Nicola?' The curious journalist was the one side of Rose I disliked.

'Nothing.' I said. Of course she knew there was something, just by saying that.

'Okay. I'll be upstairs if you need me.' She didn't ask any further, but I knew she would think at least ten minutes about the phone call and what could possibly be wrong between us.

I spent a few hours doing my homework very neatly to avoid boredom, but unfortunately I had too much spare time left to do anything, so I just turned on the TV.

I jumped up when the phone rang again.

'Hello, Jenna speaking,' I said while putting the sound softer.

'Hey Jenna, it's Caroline.' I recognized her voice, but why would she call me?

'Er, hey Caroline,' I said. 'What's up?'

'Well, there's softball training tomorrow and I just wanted to let you know.' I noticed a strong beat on the background; was she in a bar?

'Okay, thanks,' I said.

'I should go,' she said, clearly not knowing what to say when talking to me, like all the others. 'I'll see you tomorrow.'

'Bye,' I said. Well, that was a curious phone call.

I went to bed early again, this time because of a headache. Rose asked me if I wanted some painkillers, but I said I could handle it. I tried to find something in my mind that would both calm me down and soften my headache. The solution came when I was almost asleep.

The comforting gold brown color of Julien's eyes, the color I'd missed so much from back in Minnesota, with spots of liquid gold in it.

The eyes watched and kept me safe all night.


End file.
